1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to animals and livestock such as horses, cattle and other domestic animals, which eat hay, grains or pelletized food as a diet. Specifically it addresses a concern of animal owners as to how to feed their animals in their absence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Horses and other domestic livestock should be fed twice per day, preferably once in the morning and once in the afternoon/evening. It is also desirable that these feedings occur at the same times each day. Sometimes this is difficult for the animal owner due to work schedules, vacations away from home or inclement weather.
Many animal owners like to feed their animals grains, supplements or pelletized food In addition to hay. They either feed them these items as a substitute for hay or they add these items to a meal of hay.
In my search for prior art I discovered (3) patents issued for devices attempting to address the feeding of hay automatically. U.S. Pat. No. 5345893 by Morris (1994), U.S. Pat. No.4665863 by Toledo (1987) and U.S. Pat. No. 5520143 by Duin (1996).
All three of these inventions use a complicated means of opening doors to allow hay to be dispensed.
Their series of bars, gears, actuators and shafts lend themselves to wear due to friction of all these moving parts.
Because of their design they could also be limited to the amount of hay they could dispense. This is due to the force and energy required caused by additional weight on the friction surfaces, specifically; the "sequencing bar" of Duin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,143, 1996) and the "latch rod" or latching tabs of the mechanism by Morris (U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,893, 1994). In both cases the weight of the door as well as that of the hay sits directly upon a bar or tab which must slide linearly or circularly against the force and friction of the weight.
The prior inventions use a series of indexed slots or tabs which can prove to be time consuming and awkward when trying to align them to reset the doors when refilling the feeder with hay.
The mechanical components used to open the dispensing doors are custom fabricated/manufactured. Thus the only recourse a consumer would have for replacement or repair would be from the manufacturer. If for some reason the manufacturer could not deliver the component, the consumer would be forced to seek out a machine shop for custom fabrication of the component.
The inventions of Morris and Duin dispense the hay directly onto the ground or a chute, which diverts the hay to the ground. This design makes it impractical to dispense grain, pellets or other food supplements either alone or with the hay as the product would be dispersed onto the ground making it difficult for the animal to recover and ingest.
There is also a safety concern related to feeding horses hay dispensed/placed directly onto the ground. It can be contaminated with water, mud, dirt or sand. If a horse ingests dirt or sand with its hay there is the possibility of contracting Colic, a potentially fatal condition.
Neither Duin or Morris' feeders address the safeguarding of the animal, or people from potential harm caused by coming into contact with one of the doors when they are swinging/opening.
Duin uses a chute, which extends out to direct the falling hay to the ground. This chute could be a potential tripping hazard.
Many livestock owners own more then 1 head; it would be most desirable to feed more then one animal at a time with the same feeder. Dispensing the flake of hay onto the ground in one piece prohibits this because the most dominant animal will become gluttonous and prohibit the other animals from eating.